Vortex Flux Generator

ABSTRACT

Various implementations of the invention correspond to an improved vortex flux generator. In some implementations of the invention, the improved vortex flux generator includes a magnetic circuit configured to produce a magnetic field; a quench controller configured to provide a variable current; a vortex material configured to form and subsequently dissipate a vortex in response to the variable current, wherein upon formation of the vortex, a magnetic field density surrounding the vortex is urged to decrease, and wherein upon subsequent dissipation of the vortex, the urging to decrease ceases and the magnetic field density increases prior to a reformation of the vortex, and wherein the decrease of the magnetic field density and the increase of the magnetic field density correspond to a modulation of the magnetic field; an inductor disposed in a vicinity of the vortex such that the modulation of the magnetic field induces an electrical current in the inductor; and a dissipation superconductor electrically disposed in parallel with the vortex material and configured to carry, without quenching, an entirety of the variable current during dissipation of the vortex in the vortex material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/312,981, which was filed on Mar. 24, 2016, and entitled “ImprovedVortex Flux Generator,” which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

This application is related to: U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/406,628, entitled “Vortex Flux Generator,” which was filed on Jan.13, 2017; which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/181,834, entitled “Vortex Flux Generator,” which was filedon Feb. 17, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,548,681; which in turn is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/121,472, entitled“Vortex Flux Generator,” which was filed on Jun. 9, 2011, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,692,437; which in turn is a 371 National Phase application ofInternational Application No. PCT/IB2009/054268, entitled “Vortex FluxGenerator,” which was filed on Sep. 30, 2009; which in turn claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/194,881, filed onSep. 30, 2008. Each of the foregoing applications is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/640,683, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Electricity GenerationUsing Electromagnetic Induction Including Thermal Transfer BetweenVortex Flux Generator and Refrigerator Compartment,” which has a filingdate of Feb. 19, 2013; which in turn is a 371 National Phase applicationof International Application No. PCT/US2011/031789, which was filed onApr. 8, 2011; which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/323,293, filed on Apr. 12, 2010. Each of theforegoing applications is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Various implementations of the invention relate to systems and methodsfor energy conversion. More specifically, various implementations of theinvention relate to systems and methods for cyclical conversion of aninput energy source into kinetic energy of a magnetic field modulated byvortices, and then into electric energy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following definitions are used herein:

Electrical conductor: An assemblage of matter that forms a volume ofmaterial with the property of conducting electric current with low lossor no loss.

Diamagnetism: A property of matter where magnetic fields permeate with areduced degree of penetration, or are repelled, defined here to clarifythe definition of vortices used herein.

Vortex (when used, the plural “vortices” is also implied): Matterforming an area, located within and/or adjacent to a vortex material,that has the characteristic of reduced diamagnetism within the area,relative to a comparatively increased diamagnetism outside the area. Thearea may be comprised of an additional dimension establishing a volume.The reduced diamagnetism allows a higher magnetic field density within avortex, while the area surrounding the vortex has a relatively lowerdensity of the magnetic field. Vortices are formed by a set ofconditions applied to a vortex material. For example, by placing avortex material, that may be comprised of a superconductor material, ina magnetic field, and transferring heat energy out of the material,urging the material into the superconducting state, vortices form withinand/or adjacent to the material. When a vortex forms, the magnetic fielddensity inside the vortex increases, and because the field may becomprised of a total field in an area in which that field is conserved,the magnetic field surrounding the vortex is urged to decrease, suchthat the total conserved field, comprising the field inside and outsidethe vortex, remains the same.

Vortex material: An assemblage of matter within and/or adjacent to whicha vortex can form. The vortex that forms may do so because of conditionscomprised by the properties of the said vortex material. An examplevortex material is a superconductor material. The vortex material may becomprised of an assemblage of various materials that include bothsuperconducting and non-superconducting materials, such that assemblagewill produce a vortex. In additional to a material that forms vortices,the other matter assembled may be comprised of materials that includemechanical support, energy flow connections, insulation, and materialsthat urge an artificial means to predispose the location that a vortexwill form. The vortex material may be re-entrant, meaning that thevortex forms and subsequently dissipates in the vortex material, withoutany external stimulation. The vortex material may be non-re-entrant,meaning that that a vortex forms and/or dissipates only upon externalstimulation. The vortex material may be comprised of materials thatexhibit both re-entrant and non-reentrant behavior. The vortex materialmay be comprised of materials that can be stimulated to form anddissipate vortices by a controlling means that transfers energy into andout of the vortex material. The vortices that form may be comprised ofpredisposed dimensions that are determined by the properties of theassemblage of matter that forms the vortex material, and determined bythe environmental conditions that the vortex material is operated in. Byartificially compelling a plurality of vortices to form at predeterminedlocations, other vortices nearby will also form at predictable locationsnearby the vortices specifically compelled, by virtue of predisposeddimensions of the vortices.

Magnetic field modulation: A change in the density of a magnetic fieldpermeating an area of matter, whereby the change occurs over an intervalof time. For example, the formation and dissipation of a vortex willchange the magnetic field near where the vortex forms and dissipates.This changing magnetic field over time is a kinetic energy, comprised ofa movement of the density of the field, also known as a modulation ofthe magnetic field, since the field density is moving as time elapses.This may be referred to as field modulation, field density change,movement of magnetic flux, or modulation of the field.

Inductor: An electrical conductor formed such that magnetic fieldmodulation nearby the electrical conductor induces an electric currentto flow in the electrical conductor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various implementations of the invention correspond to an improvedvortex flux generator. In some implementations of the invention, theimproved vortex flux generator includes a magnetic circuit configured toproduce a magnetic field; a quench controller configured to provide avariable current; a vortex material configured to form and subsequentlydissipate a vortex in response to the variable current, wherein uponformation of the vortex, a magnetic field density surrounding the vortexis urged to decrease, and wherein upon subsequent dissipation of thevortex, the urging to decrease ceases and the magnetic field densityincreases prior to a reformation of the vortex, and wherein the decreaseof the magnetic field density and the increase of the magnetic fielddensity correspond to a modulation of the magnetic field; an inductordisposed in a vicinity of the vortex such that the modulation of themagnetic field induces an electrical current in the inductor; and adissipation superconductor electrically disposed in parallel with thevortex material and configured to carry, without quenching, an entiretyof the variable current during dissipation of the vortex in the vortexmaterial.

These implementations, their features and other aspects of the inventionare described in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic of a vortex flux generator in accordancewith various implementations of the invention.

FIG. 2A is an expanded perspective illustration of a method to mount thevortex material chip and the inductor chip sandwiched together with amounting substrate.

FIG. 2B is a perspective illustration of a method to mount the vortexmaterial chip and the inductor chip sandwiched together with a mountingsubstrate from FIG. 2A, where the sandwiched chips are mounted to themounting substrate, and one of the sandwiched chips is concealed insidethe recess of the mounting substrate.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged expanded perspective schematic illustration of thelayered components that an inductor in the vortex flux generator may becomprised of.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged expanded perspective schematic illustration ofthe layered components that an inductor in the vortex flux generator maybe comprised of, where the layered components of FIG. 3 are illustratedin a manner that is more representative of how these layered componentsare actually assembled together. Compared to FIG. 3, the components inFIG. 3A are illustrated with a lesser degree of vertical expansion, andmore components are hidden by adjacent components.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged illustration of a helical coil of electricallyconductive matter that is analogous to and may be utilized as theinductor in the vortex flux generator.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged expanded perspective schematic illustrationrepresentative of an alignment means used to align layered components inthe vortex flux generator.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic illustration of a single inductordisposed near a vortex material, wherein a depicted magnetic fielddensity is not modulated by a vortex.

FIG. 7 is the enlarged schematic illustration identified as FIG. 6, witha vortex now present. The vortex is modulating the magnetic flux, andinducing electricity in the inductor.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged expanded perspective schematic illustration thatdepicts the magnetic flux being modulated by a plurality of vortices,and a plurality of layered inductors analogous to the inductor of FIG.3A, that are interconnected in series, producing electricity.

FIG. 9A is an enlarged expanded illustrated view of a surface plane ofthe vortex material, depicting the location where a means has beendeployed to urge the formation of vortices at particular positions.

FIG. 9B is an enlarged expanded illustrated view of a surface plane ofthe vortex material of FIG. 9A, depicting vortices that have formed atthe urged positions.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged expanded illustration looking upon the plane ofan array of inductors that are manufactured analogous to the inductor ofFIG. 3A, in positions that correspond to the urged location of thevortices depicted in FIG. 9B.

FIG. 11 is schematic illustration of the vortex flux generator depictingthe elements of the control system, energy source, sink and output.

FIG. 12 illustrates an improved vortex flux generator in accordance withvarious implementations of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In describing various implementations of the invention illustrated inthe drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity.However, these implementations of the invention are not intended to belimited to specific terminology so selected, and it is to be understoodthat each specific element includes all technical equivalents thatoperate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. The scaleof the components used in the illustrations is comprised of a scalesuitable for illustrative purposes. The actual dimensions of thecomponents fabricated in a preferred embodiment may be comprised of adifferent scale as would be appreciated.

According to various implementations of the invention, a vortex fluxgenerator 500 (illustrated in FIG. 1) combines known properties ofvortex materials, including magnetic flux modulation, to urge anelectric current to flow in an inductor using known properties ofelectromagnetic induction.

Referring to FIG. 1, a magnetic circuit is formed using a magnetic core27, comprised of a magnetic powder or amorphous metal with a 0.7 Teslamagnet or magnets 21, comprised of a permanent magnet or electromagnetinserted in the circuit, yielding a magnetic field denoted by theillustrative field lines 20. A vortex material 24 and an inductor array22 are placed within the magnetic circuit. Thereby, the vortex materialand inductor array are adjacent to each other in the magnetic field. Theelements of the component labeled “Controller” in FIG. 1 are detailed inFIG. 11. The Electricity Output 200 represents the power output of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a microscopic inductor is fabricated usingmicroelectronic fabrication. This fabrication process is comprised of alayered microelectronic process analogous to the process currently usedto fabricate CMOS integrated circuit chips. The exemplary expandedinductor illustrated in FIG. 3 is comprised of five layers of copperalloy electrical conductors 72, where the trace width and spacing isfifty five nanometers. Both the trace height of eighty two nanometers,and insulator 73 thickness of ten nanometers, are not proportionallyscaled to the thickness of the electrically conductive layer in theillustration. An electrically conductive via 74, through the insulator73, interconnects the layers of the inductor.

An electrical interconnect 71 may be comprised of a continuation of thetrace of the electrical conductor 72. This interconnect 71 may be usedto connect to other inductor assemblies. An analogous interconnect, atthe bottom-most conductor layer illustrated, provides the connection forthe opposite end of the inductor assembly in FIG. 3.

In the exemplary implementation, each layer of the electricallyconductive material is an arced segment that is not closed upon itself.Each layer comprises, for example, three-fourths of a turn of anequivalent helical coil. Alternately, a helical coil fabricated from afifty nanometer diameter wire, depicted in FIG. 4, may be utilized asthe inductor in various implementations.

In FIG. 3A, the expansion of the view in FIG. 3 is decreased, forming amore uniform illustration. This inductor assembly of FIG. 3A iscomprised of the same components as FIG. 3.

In FIG. 8, the inductor assembly 37 is comprised of, for example, sevenlayers of an electrical conductor, and seven layers of insulator,comprising five and one quarter turns of the conductor that comprisesthe inductor, about its central axis. Other numbers of layer ofelectrical conductor and insulator may be used as would be appreciated.The inductor 37 is an extension of the assembly in FIG. 3A, with morelayers, such that the electrical interconnects 36 and 40 for theassembly exit on opposite sides, facilitating interconnection to theadjacent inductor assembly also illustrated in FIG. 8, andinterconnected with trace extension 40. In FIG. 10, fourteen of theselayered inductor assemblies 66 are depicted in an array upon a substrate65. The substrate 65 is comprised of a one millimeter silicon wafer.

Referring to FIG. 6, a single inductor 30 is illustrated. Magnetic fluxlines 32 are illustrated in the state where no vortex is present fromthe vortex material 31, and there is negligible current flowing in theinductor 30.

FIG. 7 illustrates the same components as FIG. 6, wherein a vortex 35has formed, and the magnetic field indicated is increasing in density inthe vortex 35, and in the adjacent single inductor. The increasingmagnetic field density is illustrated by 33. While the magnetic fielddensity is increasing in the inductor, electric power flows from theinductor, indicated by the arrow 34. Though not depicted, when thevortex dissipates, electric power also flows from the inductor, with thecurrent in the opposite direction, according to Lenz's Law.

FIG. 8 illustrates a placement of inductor assemblies 37 in between thelocation that vortices 39 form from a vortex material 41. Three vorticesare shown, although other numbers of vortices may be used as would beappreciated. By this placement of the inductors, the magnetic fluxdensity decreases in the inductors when the vortices form. This decreasein flux density induces electric power to flow from each of the inductorassemblies. The interconnect 40 connects the two illustrated inductorassemblies illustrated in series. This connection accumulates theelectric power from the inductors. The interconnect 36 may comprise aconnection to another inductor, or a connection to a load powered by theElectricity Output 200, illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 11.

Each of the inductor assemblies has connector terminals comprised of atleast two terminals. The interconnecting conductors between themestablish an interconnecting means. Every interconnection results in afewer number of conductors emanating from the plurality ofinterconnected inductors so connected. In the exemplary embodiment,millions of inductors are connected in series, resulting in anaccumulation of the electrical power from millions of inductors into asingle pair of conductors, thereby providing a fewer number ofconductors, by using microelectronic fabrication of an interconnectingmeans of a plurality of interconnected inductors. A million inductorshave at least two million connection terminals. When interconnected, themillion inductors have a result that may be comprised of two terminalsinstead of two million.

Again referring to FIG. 8, during the formation and dissipation of thevortices, the magnetic flux 38 may be comprised of an induced electricpower in the inductor by the action of the vortex while the vortex isstationary with respect to the inductor and vortex material 41. This isby the increased density of magnetic flux within the vortex as comparedto the density of the flux surrounding the vortex.

The electric power induced in the inductor may be induced by anelectromagnetic induction comprised of a changing magnetic field withrespect to the inductor by a movement of a vortex respectively to theinductor, where the vortex 39 that carries an increased magnetic fielddensity within it moves with respect to the inductor 37. Although ameans is deployed to have the vortices form at predetermined positions,vortices may move respectively to the vortex material and inductors bythe action of energy in the vortex material. This energy may becomprised of the energy of the electrical current produced by the QuenchControl 600 in FIG. 11.

The electric power induced in the inductor may be induced by anelectromagnetic induction comprised of a changing magnetic field withrespect to the inductor by a displacement of magnetic flux density fromone vortex to another. This occurs by the property of the vortices,where an amount of flux in one vortex may displace to other vortices.Although the total of the flux density in all vortices is conserved, theflux passing through an inductor disposed nearby will change, producingelectricity in the inductors that encompass the changing flux.

FIG. 9A illustrates a surface plane of the vortex material. In anexemplary implementation, the vortex material 61 is comprised layers ofmaterials deposited on a substrate, that may either begin with the samesubstrate as the substrate for the inductor array, or utilize its ownsubstrate. If on its own substrate, the substrate used may be comprisedof a material that has a cryogenic contraction rate analogous to therate of contraction of the inductor substrate, such that the alignmentbetween the vortices and inductors is maintained across the range ofoperating temperatures. When a separate substrate is used, the substratefor the vortex material chip and the substrate for the inductor arraychip may both be comprised of a one millimeter silicon wafer. Whenfabricating the layers of the vortex material chip, buffer and insulatorlayers are used, and a Bismuth based Type II superconductor thin filmfifty nanometers thin deep, commonly known as Bi-2223 may be deposited,resulting in a smooth surface that will mate with the inductor chip'ssmoothed surface. While various exemplary implementations of theinvention described herein refer to use of a Bismuth based Type IIsuperconductor or Bi-2223, other types of superconductors, includingother types of superconductor films, may be used as would beappreciated.

FIG. 9A also depicts the locations where a means to urge vortices toform at predetermined positions is deployed. Fourteen such locations areidentified 62 although other numbers of such locations may be used. Atlocations 62, the material may have a change in static magneticpermeability, such as by the deposition of a material at these locationswith a different magnetic permeability than the surrounding material,providing a means to urge a gradient in the magnetic field densityresulting in a different magnetic field density, and in particular astatic gradient change in the magnetic field at 62, whereby a vortexforms there.

Another means to urge vortices to form at predetermined positions may becomprised of the actuation of an inductor adjacent to the vortexmaterial, by an electrical current in the inductor, using the inductoras a solenoid electromagnet, thus comprising a means for a dynamicgradient change in the magnetic field, whereby the vortex will form atthe location 62, as urged by of the solenoid's magnetic field.

Another means to urge vortices to form at predetermined positions may becomprised of a means for a change in the uniformity of the vortexmaterial at predetermined positions. This may be comprised of a changein molecular composition in the material, such as by the deposition ofmolecules that are different from the molecules of vortex material, atthe predetermined positions 62.

Another means to urge vortices to form at predetermined positions may becomprised of a change in the crystal lattice structure, comprised of adefect or non-uniformity of the lattice at predetermined positions,comprised of a similar molecular formula as the whole, though withdifferent atoms specifically at the predetermined positions 62 in thelattice.

Another means to urge vortices to form at predetermined positions may becomprised of a change in dimension of the vortex material atpredetermined positions, such as a change in the thickness of the layersof substrate, buffer or vortex generating molecular regime, such as isused in the exemplary embodiment described below.

In the exemplary implementation, an etching process is used to changethe dimension of the Bi-2223 thin film at locations 62, to establish thelocations where vortices will form. This change in dimension is effectedby an etching process that is comprised of reducing the depth of theBi-2223 material by, for example, twenty five nanometers in a halfspherical etching cavity that is, for example, twenty five nanometers indiameter, at each location 62.

FIG. 9B illustrates the same vortex material as FIG. 9A, where thevortices 64 have formed.

FIG. 10 illustrates the corresponding locations of the inductorassemblies that are comprised of a layered construction method detailedin FIG. 3 and FIG. 3A, that are grouped into a matrix, andinterconnected to accumulate the electric power induced into them by themodulated flux from the vortices of FIG. 9B.

In the exemplary implementation, the inductor array substrate 65 of FIG.10 is assembled adjacent to the vortex material substrate 61 of FIG. 9A,by layering the two substrates upon each other. The result is that thevortices which form at the predetermined positions within the vortexmaterial, that is layered to the inductor array substrate, are formed atpositions with correspond to the position of the inductors.

In the exemplary implementation, the predetermined positions place thevortices, for example, three hundred and thirty nanometers apart attheir centers. In order to encompass a net changing flux density in theinductors, the length of the segments in the inductors may be comprisedof a length that is approximately half or less than the distance betweenthe vortices. This establishes at least one predetermined dimension thatin the exemplary embodiment is one hundred and sixty five nanometers inlength, for example, for the segments of the inductors.

The predetermined positions and dimension are illustrated by thecorrespondence of the location of vortices and inductors in FIG. 6, FIG.7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B, and FIG. 10. For illustrative purposes, thefigures shown may comprise a scale that is different from the scale ofthe exemplary implementation.

Referring to FIG. 2A, in the exemplary implementation, the inductorarray is comprised of one billion interconnected inductor assemblies ona chip 28, with an area of one centimeter square. In FIG. 2A, thesubstrate of the inductor array chip 28 is facing up. The vortexmaterial chip 29, on its own substrate, has its substrate facing down.

These two chips 28 and 29 of FIG. 2A are mounted to each other with thesubstrates facing outward, and the inductors and superconductor filmsseparated by insulation layers comprised of, for example, one hundrednanometers total thickness from all mating surfaces.

In FIG. 2B, the two sandwiched chips from FIG. 2A are installed into thesubstrate, such that the chip 29 of FIG. 2A, now attached to chip 28, isconcealed beneath chip 28 in the illustration of FIG. 2B, inside thesubstrate cavity 30 of FIG. 2A.

Referring to FIG. 5, the two layers 77 and 78 correspond to the twochips 28 and 29 of FIG. 2A, in this particular implementation. FIG. 5depicts the usage of an alignment means to ensure the correspondingplacement of the vortex locations and inductor locations usingperpendicular references 75, and alignment marks 76 manufactured intoeach chip 77 and 78, wherein the alignment marks correspond to theplacement of the elements of each respective chip to be aligned.

The two layers, 77 and 78, used in this generalized alignment means ofthe FIG. 5 illustration, may also refer to the alignment of individuallayers, rather than specific chips

The chips aligned and attached to each other using the aforesaidalignment method, are mounted into a substrate with a cavity 30 of FIG.2A. The cavity provides a recess into which the chip 29 will becontained after being mounted to chip 28. The result is that the largerchip 28 appears on the top of the substrate 30, and this result is shownin FIG. 2B. This resulting aligned chip sandwich includes the vortexmaterial 24, and inductor array 22, both of FIG. 1, inserted into themagnetic circuit 27.

The bismuth-based superconductor used as the source of the vortices inthe vortex material chip operates at cryogenic temperatures, as asuperconductor, in the magnetic field of the magnetic circuit. It can bequenched out of the superconducting state by an application ofadditional energy (e.g., nuclear energy, electromagnetic energy, thermalenergy, modulation of the magnetic field, an electric current, etc.).When quenched, the vortices dissipate. These forms of energy may alsocomprise energy that provides the energy converted into electricity bythe various implementations of the invention. The energy that is thesource of the converted energy, and the energy that performs thequenching, may be comprised of at least one of these, or a plurality ofthese as would be appreciated.

A Bi-2223 superconductor thin film may be rapidly quenched with a modestelectrical current when a static magnetic field is already present, asin the case of various implementations of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, in an exemplary implementation, a quench controlcircuit 600 applies a pulse of electric current to the vortex material.For example, in some implementations of the invention, the current usedis ten times the nominal half ampere quenching current, applied as ahigh speed current pulse via Quench Control circuit 600, as a onehundred nanosecond, five ampere quenching pulse. This quenches thevortex material within 500, dissipating vortices. Feedback may beutilized by Quench Control 600 to modulate the quenching pulse, whileutilizing minimal electric energy, such that the net Electricity Output200 is maximized.

Although a vortex material used by various implementations of theinvention may be comprised of one that is a re-entrant vortex material,a non-re-entrant vortex material, and a vortex material which iscontrolled by a means of stimulation nearby the vortex material, in thecase of the exemplary embodiment, the controller of FIG. 1, explodedinto detail within FIG. 11, supplies a means of external stimulation,via the pulsed current, to operate the vortex material in a cyclicalre-entrant mode.

When the vortex material quenches, heat energy is transferred to theenergy of the increased disorganization of the vortex material. That is,the vortices were more organized, and when the vortices dissipated, thevortex material becomes less organized. Heat energy is used in thevortex material to effect the change in organization. Because the vortexmaterial is not operated adiabatically, instead of its temperaturesimply lowering, heat energy is transferred into the vortex material,whereby the vortex material effectively absorbs heat energy from itsoperating environment, especially through the heat valve 300. The actualaction is that the heat energy transfers from the warmer heat valve 300to the vortex material.

Energy supplied to the various implementations of the invention may becomprised of heat energy by heat source 100, as modulated by heat valve300. Various implementions of the invention require a sufficient flow ofenergy to provide for the energy needed to be converted to electricityoutput 200, plus the energy that is output at waste heat sink output800, plus the energy needed by self conversion to power the quenchcontrol 600 and cryogenic pump 700 when switch 95 is not in the battery400 position.

After cessation of the quenching current pulse, and absorbing energyfrom the source, the Bi-2223 material, still below its superconductingtemperature threshold Tc, will be in the superconducting state, andvortices are again formed, flux is modulated, and electricity generatedin the inductor array chip within 500. Vortex formation, quenching,vortex dissipation, energy absorption, together with generation ofelectricity by electromagnetic induction from magnetic field modulation,are the cycles of the method of various implementations of theinvention.

In the process to dissipate vortices by a pulsed electric current in theexemplary implementation, and transfer heat energy into the vortexmaterial, more than one form of energy was involved in the cycles of themethod of various implementations of the invention, comprised of theenergy of an electric current and heat energy.

With the aforementioned chip construction and magnetic field strength,and operating at a cycle rate of, for example, one MHz, the usableElectricity Output for the system is ten watts, with an energy inputthat may be comprised of 10.1 watts. In some implementations of theinvention, the system may be scaled upward, and the cycle rate may beincreased to provide correspondingly higher output capacities as wouldbe appreciated.

The vortex flux generator in an exemplary implementation may be used asa thermoelectric converter, with an intermediate phase of magnetic fieldmodulation. Energy from the Heat Source 100 is converted intoElectricity Output 200. Heat energy, which may be comprised of wasteheat, is removed via the cryogenic pump 700 to the waste heat sink 800.Waste heat sink 800 may be comprised of a sink at a lower temperaturethan heat source 100.

Battery 400 is enabled via switch 95 to start the process, supplyingelectric power to run the cryogenic pump 700, and the quench control600. After the cyclical energy generation operation begins, and the heatenergy source is used as the energy input for the system, switch 95 mayselect that a portion of the electrical output of the generator 500 beused to power the quench control 600 and cryogenic pump 700, rather thanuse the battery.

FIG. 12 illustrates an improved vortex flux generator 1200 according tovarious implementations of the invention. Improved vortex flux generator1200 includes a vortex flux generator 500 and a quench controller 600(and other components) as generally described above. Improved vortexflux generator 1200 also includes a dissipation superconductor (orsuperconducting material as would be appreciated) 1210 disposed inparallel with vortex material 24 of vortex flux generator 500.

According to various implementations of the invention, quench controller600 provides a variable current, I₃, a portion of which is provided tovortex material 24 and a portion of which is provided to dissipationsuperconductor 1210. More particularly, quench controller 600 provides afirst portion of variable current, I₁, to vortex material 24 and asecond portion of variable current, I₂, to dissipation superconductor1210, where I₁+I₂=I₃. As would be appreciated, vortex material 24 anddissipation superconductor 1210 have different critical currents as aresult of differences in physical or chemical properties between vortexmaterial 24 and dissipation superconductor 1210. As such, dissipationsuperconductor 1210 may be configured to quench (e.g., enter anon-superconducting state) at a critical current greater than that ofvortex material 24.

Further, as would also be appreciated, dissipation superconductor 1210may be configured to quench at a critical current greater than a maximumof variable current I₃ provided by quench controller 600. As a result,when vortex material 24 quenches by design, in response to an increasingfirst portion of variable current I₁ (and as a result of an increasingvariable current I₃), dissipation superconductor 1210 may divert orcarry the full amount of variable current I₃ while vortex material 24remains in a non-superconducting state. In other words, when I₁ exceedsthe critical current of vortex material 24, vortex material 24transitions from a superconducting state having zero or near-zeroresistance to a non-superconducting state having a non-zero resistance.When this occurs, first portion of variable current I₁ rapidly reducesto zero (or near zero) and virtually all of variable current I₃ willflow through dissipation superconductor 1210 in accordance with Ohm'sLaw; more particularly, I₂≈I₃ and I₁≈0.

By diverting the full amount of variable current I₃, dissipationsuperconductor 1210 minimizes an amount of joule heating of vortexmaterial 24 caused by current flowing through a non-zero resistance (aswould be the case with vortex material 24 in its non-superconductingstate). This reduces an amount of heat that needs to be extracted fromthe cryostat housing vortex material 24, thereby improving an overallefficiency of operation of improved vortex flux generator 1210.

According to various implementations of the invention, all interconnectsin FIG. 12 coupling vortex material 24, dissipation superconductor 1210and quench controller 600 may be implemented using superconductorshaving critical currents that exceed the full amount of variable currentI₃ (i.e., to carry I₃ without quenching).

In some implementations of the invention, a cyclical waveform ofvariable current I₃ may be reduced below a hysteresis threshold ofvortex material 24 in order to restore vortex material 24 to itssuperconducting state as would be appreciated. In some implementationsof the invention, waveform of variable current I₃ may, periodically orotherwise, cycle between a maximum variable current I₃ sufficient tocause I₂ to exceed the critical current of vortex material 24 (and hencequench vortex material 24) and a minimum variable current I₃ sufficientto cause I₂ to fall below the hysteresis threshold of vortex material 24(and hence cause vortex material 24 to return to its superconductivestate).

Thus, the foregoing description of various implementations of theinvention has been provided for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevantarts. For example, unless otherwise specified, steps preformed invarious implementations of the invention described can be performed inalternate orders, certain steps can be omitted, and additional steps canbe added. The implementations described above were chosen and describedin order to best explain the principles of the invention and itspractical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art tounderstand the invention. It is intended that the scope of the inventionbe defined by the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vortex flux generator comprising: a magnetic circuit configured to produce a magnetic field; a quench controller configured to provide a variable current; a vortex material configured to form and subsequently dissipate a vortex in response to the variable current, wherein upon formation of the vortex, a magnetic field density surrounding the vortex is urged to decrease, and wherein upon subsequent dissipation of the vortex, the urging to decrease ceases and the magnetic field density increases prior to a reformation of the vortex, and wherein the decrease of the magnetic field density and the increase of the magnetic field density correspond to a modulation of the magnetic field; an inductor disposed in a vicinity of the vortex such that the modulation of the magnetic field induces an electrical current in the inductor; and a dissipation superconductor electrically disposed in parallel with the vortex material and configured to carry, without quenching, an entirety of the variable current during dissipation of the vortex in the vortex material.
 2. The vortex flux generator of claim 1, wherein the dissipation superconductor is further configured to carry a portion, less than the entirety, of the variable current during formation of the vortex in the vortex material.
 3. The vortex flux generator of claim 1, wherein the vortex material comprises a second superconducting material having properties different from the dissipation superconductor.
 4. The vortex flux generator of claim 1, wherein the vortex material has a first critical current, wherein the dissipation superconductor has a second critical current, wherein the second critical current is greater than the first critical current.
 5. A method for forming and dissipating vortices in a vortex material, the method comprising: increasing a variable current, wherein a first portion of the variable current flows through the vortex material, wherein a second portion of the variable current flows through a dissipation superconductor electrically disposed in parallel with the vortex material, and wherein the first portion of the variable current causes vortices to form in the vortex material, wherein the variable current is increased until the first portion of the variable current flowing through the vortex material exceeds a critical current of the vortex material thereby causing the vortex material to enter its non-superconducting state which in turn causes an entirety of the variable current to flow through the dissipation superconductor; maintaining the vortex material in its non-superconducting state thereby causing the vortices formed in the vortex material to dissipate; and reducing the variable current until the vortex material returns to its superconducting state. 